Echoing the countless young dreamers who every year trade the rat race of the Big Apple for traffic on the 105, Marvel Comics is packing its bags and sending Peter Parker to the West Coast. After 90 years in New York City, Spidey will wave goodbye to his friendly neighborhood, where he can be closer to his corporate overlord, Mickey Mouse, and Marvel’s official headquarters, led by Kevin Feige. The announcement was made during a company town hall, where staff were informed that they would be shutting down operations in Manhattan and moving to Burbank in 2027, with more than 100 employees invited to come along.
“As we look toward the future, we’ve made the decision to relocate the Comics and Franchise division to Marvel’s central headquarters in Burbank, California,” a memo to staff obtained by The Hollywood Reporter reads. “This move will position the team beside our broader creative organization and create opportunities for collaboration across both Marvel and Disney. Our goal is simple: to continue to make the best comic books in the business. Bringing our comics, film, television, and other creative teams together will help us learn from one another, collaborate, and build on the strengths that make Marvel the true House of Ideas.”
In many ways, the move is a long time coming. Marvel has claimed New York as home for nearly a century, with many of its A-List characters, including the Avengers, The Fantastic Four, and Daredevil, walking over here for decades. To say nothing of the company’s founding. Timely Comics—Marvel’s original incarnation before shifting to Atlas and finally Marvel—was founded on 42nd Street and populated by New Yorker artists and writers like Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. However, Marvel Studios, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company, has been the primary money printer for the last 20 years, and per The Hollywood Reporter, the move is meant to show investment in the imprint, which has languished in recent years. Longtime rival DC made a similar jump in 2015, when it moved closer to the loving bosom of its mother, Warner Bros. Studios. We eagerly await the many, many insightful observations Spider-Man will surely have about the differences between New York and Los Angeles.
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